with an auditorium and enough rooms. A couple of days later, somebody stepped in and offered them a space that could do the job, and the festival went on as scheduled. Competing Events Cranberry’s long-time home was about an hour from Cooperstown, NY, generally on the same weekend as the Baseball Hall of Fame inductions. The year Cal Ripken was inducted, motels filled up with baseball fans months before the festival. If you’re in a college town, make sure you won’t be opposite homecoming or graduation. If you’re on a town green, make sure a town-wide fair won’t be taking all your parking. Medic al Emergencies D uring a Festival Medical situations come in all sizes: A Nutmeg attendee who lived in the area had a medical problem. Fortunately, she had several friends at the festival, and they were able to accompany her to the local hospital. I was once at a concert where the warmup act was a father-son duo, playing tunes from 'the old country.' While they were performing, the elderly father fell forward with a heart attack. A paramedic in the audience stepped up to attend to him, somebody called 911, and the room was cleared. After an ambulance took the father to the hospital, the featured artist did perform. The victim, unfortunately, died a couple of days later. What you can do: • Know where your local hospital and walk-in clinic are. • If any of your attendees are medical professionals, it’s good to know that. (Pocono has several staff members who are trained in first aid and CPR, for non-festival reasons, and they know some attendees who are doctors or nurses.) • Make sure that your key staff people can find each other instantly–in person or by cell phone or walkie-talkie. • Don’t be shy about calling 911. • And maybe have a get-well card on hand … just in case.
Expec t the Unexpec ted Furniture surprises: When one festival moved to a new church, the liaison at the church said they had a bunch of smaller tables, along with the big 8-footers. The festival organizers assumed they were 6 feet long, but on the day of the festival, they turned out to be card tables. And one-third of the 8-footers were broken. Don’t assume things! Merchandise table mishap: At one festival, the person staffing the table spilled Coke on a stack of a workshop leader’s books. The instructor asked for full reimbursement for them (a couple hundred dollars). Keep your drinks in sealed containers. Preferably water. Miscellaneous problems: If you will have a custodian or sexton on premises, have a way to reach him/her quickly. If you’re on your own, then be sure you and your team know where to find necessary equipment and supplies, and have the phone numbers of multiple people from the venue who would be able to help you. The Emergenc y K it Here's a list to get you thinking: laptop and printer, backups of all important computer documents, cell phone charger, phone list (including emergency contacts), work gloves, extension cord, multiple flashlights/lanterns, spare batteries, paper, a roll of tape, pens and markers, envelopes, trash bags, and anything else you wouldn’t want to have to rush out to buy. Know places in the area where you can buy food, medicine, stationery supplies, and photocopies. Hopefull you'll never expereience any of the problems mentioned in this article. With a little planning, even the big stuff won't catch you by surprise. Sam Edelston has been to about 200 folk festivals and hundreds of concerts, and is chair of the Nutmeg Dulcimer Festival, coming up again in Connecticut in October. www.NutmegDulcimer.com . He would like to thank Steve Eulberg, Ron Ewing, Lori Keddell, CarolLynn Langley, Dwain Wilder, Norm Williams, and everybody who has ever attended Nutmeg for their contributions to this article.
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